militarywikiaorg-20200222-history
Battle of North Point
|result =British Tactical VictoryJames, p. 321Battle of North Point - North Point War of 1812 - Battle of North Point Baltimore, in which author Kennedy Hickman says, "While a tactical loss, the Battle of North Point proved to be a strategic victory for the Americans." American Strategic Victory |combatant1 = |combatant2 = United Kingdom |commander1 =Samuel Smith John Stricker |commander2 =Robert Ross Arthur Brooke |strength1 =3,200 |strength2 =4,000 1814 British Dead |casualties1 =24 Killed 139 Wounded 50 Captured |casualties2 =42-46 Killed 279-295 Wounded James, p. 513, reproducing in its entirety 'Return of the killed and wounded, in action with the enemy, near Baltimore, on the 12th of Sept., 1814, Public Record Office, WO 1'James, p. 521 |campaignbox = }} The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major General Robert Ross. Although tactically a British victory, the battle delayed the British advance against Baltimore, buying valuable time for the defense of the city. The engagement was a part of the larger Battle of Baltimore, a strategic American victory in the War of 1812. Background British movements Major General Robert Ross had been dispatched to Chesapeake Bay with a brigade of veterans from the Duke of Wellington's army early in 1814, reinforced with a battalion of Royal Marines. He had defeated a hastily assembled force of Maryland and District of Columbia militia at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, and burned Washington. Having disrupted the American government, he withdrew to the waiting ships of the Royal Navy at the mouth of the Patuxent River before heading further up the Chesapeake Bay to the strategically more important port city of Baltimore. Ross's army of 3,700 troops and 1,000 marinesCrawford (2002) pg 273 refers to the number of Marines from each specific ship detachment landed at North Point at the end of the peninsula between the Patapsco River and the Back River on the morning of September 12, 1814, and began moving toward the city of Baltimore.Brooks and Hohwald, p. 199 American defenses . Ruckle served with the Washington Blues, a unit of the Maryland Militia, at the Battle of North Point]] Major General Samuel Smith of the Maryland militia anticipated the British move, and dispatched Brigadier General John Stricker's column to meet them. Stricker's force consisted of five regiments of Maryland militia, a small militia cavalry regiment also from Maryland, a battalion of three volunteer rifle companies and a battery of six 4-pounder field guns.Elting, p. 230 Stricker deployed his brigade half way between Hampstead Hill, just outside Baltimore where there were earthworks and artillery emplacements, and North Point. At that point, several tidal creeks narrowed the peninsula to only a mile wide, and it was considered an ideal spot for opposing the British before they reached the main American defensive positions. Stricker received intelligence that the British were camped at a farm just from his headquarters. He deployed his men between Bear Creek and Bread and Cheese Creek, which offered cover from nearby woods, and had a long wooden fence near the main road. Stricker placed the 5th Maryland Regiment and the 27th Maryland Regiment and his six guns in the front defensive line, with two regiments (the 51st and 39th) in support, and one more (the 6th) in reserve. He placed his men in mutually supporting positions, relying on numerous swamps and the two streams to stop a British flank attack, all of which he hoped would help avoid another disaster such as Bladensburg.Brooks and Hohwald, p. 200 The riflemen initially occupied a position some miles ahead of Stricker's main position, to delay the British advance. However, their commander, Captain William Dyer, hastily withdrew on hearing a rumour that British troops were landing from the Back River behind him, threatening to cut off his retreat. Stricker posted them instead on his right flank.Elting, p. 232 Battle Opening skirmish At about midday on the 12th, Stricker heard that the British had halted while the soldiers had a meal, while some sailors attached to Ross's force plundered some nearby farms. He decided it would be better to provoke a fight rather than wait for a possible British night attack. At 1:00 pm, he sent Major Richard Heath with 250 men and one cannon to draw the British to Stricker's main force. Heath advanced down the road and soon began to engage the British pickets. When Ross heard the fighting, he quickly left his meal and ran to the scene. The British attempted to drive out the concealed American riflemen. Rear Admiral George Cockburn (the second in command of the Royal Navy' American Station, who usually accompanied Ross) was cautious about advancing without more support and Ross agreed that he would leave and get the main army. However, Ross never got his chance, as an American sniper, or snipers shot him in the chest. Ross turned his command over to Colonel Arthur Brooke and died soon after. Main battle Brooke reorganized the British troops and prepared to assault the American positions at 3:00 pm. He decided to use his three cannon to cover an attempt by the 4th Regiment to get around the American flank, while two more regiments and the naval brigade would assault the American center. The British frontal assault took heavy casualties as the American riflemen fired right into the British assault, and the Americans loaded their cannon with pieces of broken locks, nails and horseshoes, spraying scrap metal on the advancing British. However, the British 4th Regiment managed to outflank the American positions and send many of the American regiments fleeing. Stricker was able to turn the flight into an organized retreat, with his men firing volleys as they continued to fall back. Not all the militia regiments performed with equal distinction. The 51st Regiment and some of the 39th broke and ran under fire. However, the 5th and 27th held their ground and were able to retreat in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the advancing enemy.George, p.143 Only one American gun was lost. Corporal John McHenry of the 5th Regiment wrote an account of the battle: Our Regiment, the 5th, carried off the praise from the other regiments engaged, so did the company to which I have the honor to belong cover itself with glory. When compared to the other Regiments we were the last that left the ground...had our Regiment not retreated at the time it did we should have been cut off in two minutes. With some of his units lost among woods and swampy creeks, and others in confusion, Brooke did not follow up the retreating Americans. He had advanced to within a mile of the main American position but he had suffered heavier casualties than the Americans, and it was getting dark, so he chose to wait until Fort McHenry was expected to be neutralized,Brooks, Hohwald p. 201 while Stricker withdrew to Baltimore's main defences. Casualties The official British Army casualty report, signed by Major Henry Debbeig, gives 39 killed and 251 wounded. Of these, 28 killed and 217 wounded belonged to the British Army; 6 killed and 20 wounded belonged to the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Royal Marines; 4 killed and 11 wounded belonged to the contingents of Royal Marines detached from Cockburn's fleet; and 1 killed (Elias Taylor) and 3 wounded belonged to the Royal Marine Artillery. As was normal, the Royal Navy submitted a separate casualty return for the engagement, signed by Rear-Admiral Cockburn, which gives 4 sailors killed and 28 wounded but contradicts the British Army casualty report by giving 3 killed (1 and 2 from HMS Madagascar and HMS Ramillies respectively) and 15 wounded for the Royal Marines detached from the ships of the Naval fleet.James, p521, reproducing in its entirety 'a return of killed and wounded belonging to the navy, disembarked with the army under Major General Ross, Sept. 12, 1814, Public Record Office, ADM 1/507' A subsequent casualty return from Cochrane to the Admiralty, dated 22 September 1814, gives 6 sailors killed, 1 missing and 32 wounded, with Royal Marines casualties of 1 killed and 16 wounded. The total British losses, as officially reported, were either 43 killed and 279 wounded or 42 killed and 283 wounded, depending on which of the two casualty returns was accurate. Historian Franklin R. Mullaly gives still another version of the British casualties, 46 killed and 295 wounded, despite using these same sources. Mullaly's sources are: '1. Return of the killed and wounded, in action with the enemy, near Baltimore, on the 12th of Sept., 1814, Public Record Office, WO 1; also, 2. a return of killed and wounded belonging to the navy, disembarked with the army under Major General Ross, Sept. 12, 1814, Public Record Office, ADM 1/507'The Pbenyon website quotes from James publication of 1827 'the total loss of the British on shore amount to 46 killed, and 300 wounded' which appears to be the totals from Debbeig and Cochrane's casualty returns, thereby double-counting the Royal Marine casualties. The American loss was 24 killed, 139 wounded and 50 taken prisoner. Aftermath , praising the stiff resistance in Baltimore, and satirizing the British retreat]] The battle had been costly for the British. Apart from the other casualties, losing General Ross was a critical blow to the British. He was a respected leader of British forces in the Peninsular War and the War of 1812. Ross's death proved a blow to British morale as well. The combined effect of the blow suffered at North Point and the failure of the Royal Navy to capture or get past Fort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore harbor, despite a 25-hour bombardment, proved to be the turning point of the Battle of Baltimore. During the bombardment on Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key was detained on a British ship at the entrance to Baltimore and penned the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner". The day after the battle, Brooke advanced cautiously towards Baltimore. There was no more opposition from Stricker, but when the British came into view of the main defenses of Baltimore, Brooke estimated them to be manned by up to 22,000 militia, with 100 cannon. He prepared to make a night assault against the defenses at Loudenslager Hill, but asked Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane to send boats and bomb ketches to silence an American battery, "Roger's Bastion", on the flank of his proposed attack. Despite a stiff fight between the boats, commanded by Captain Charles John Napier and the American batteries, the Bastion was unharmed and Brooke called off the attack and withdrew before dawn.Elting, pp. 238-242 The British re-embarked at North Point. Legacy The battle is commemorated through the Maryland state holiday of Defenders Day. The lineage of the 5th Maryland is perpetuated by the 175th Infantry Regiment (MD ARNG), one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812. Notes References and further reading * * Crawford, Michael J. (Ed) (2002). The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 3. Washington: United States Department of Defense. ISBN 9780160512247 * * George, Christopher T. (2001). Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay, Shippensburg, Pa., White Mane, ISBN 1-57249-276-7 * * James, William (1818). A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of the Late War Between Great Britain and the United States of America. Volume II, London, Printed for the Author. ISBN 0-665-35743-5 * * Lord, Walter (1994). The Dawn's Early Light, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-80-184864-3 * Pitch, Anthony S. (2000). The Burning of Washington, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-425-3 * Whitehorne, Joseph A. (1997). The Battle for Baltimore 1814, Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, ISBN 1-877853-23-2 External links *Detailed Study of the Battle of North Point by John Pezzola *National Guard Heritage Series painting at the United States Army Center of Military History *Society of the War of 1812 *Wells & McComas *Surgeon's Journal of HM troop ship Diomede. (Archive reference ADM 101/96/6 parts 2-5) Transcription of 'Folios 16-17: list of men wounded at Chesapeake on 13 September 1814' Category:1814 in the United States Category:Battles of the War of 1812 Category:History of Maryland Category:Battles involving the United Kingdom Category:Maryland in the War of 1812 Category:1814 in Maryland Category:Conflicts in 1814